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Anderson Arts Center seeks executive director

Apply by January 15. The Anderson Arts Center is looking for a team leader with limitless vision and innovation, and a proven track record of presenting creative, inspiring numerous arts programs. Our executive director will nurture existing relationships and foster new partnerships to further our mission to develop, advance and deliver high-quality arts and cultural experiences in the Anderson community. Our goal is to continually enhance the quality of life for our residents, while presenting Anderson as a destination city for visitors. If you have a passion for the arts and understand the strong influence they can have on people’s lives, we invite you to apply for this position. The executive director is responsible for:

  • Board Relations/Strategic Plans. Teaming with the President and Directors to implement Board decisions, assisting in developing goals and long-range plans, and reviewing progress of achievements. Aggressively implementing the Arts Center’s Strategic Plan, offering sound recommendations, and inspiring Board responsibility. Working effectively with City and County Governments to develop and implement strategic goals.
  • Internal Relations. Working in full cooperation with the Board and the Chairs of the Membership, Executive, Special Events and Capital Campaign Committees to further the mission and goals of the Arts Center.
  • Public Relations. Enthusiastically and effectively serving as an ambassador and spokesperson for The Arts Center to the public, special constituencies, potential donors and other organizations. Developing publicity materials, newsletters, annual reports and resource materials for various constituencies. Establishing and maintaining beneficial relationships with key individuals with integral roles in shaping the Arts Center’s future. Developing innovative educational opportunities for artists, students, Board members and potential donors.
  • Development. Overseeing and implementing annual appeals, while actively soliciting and managing solicitation of sponsorships. Developing and supervising fundraising events. Providing excellent service to donors, and issuing comprehensive, accurate and timely statements of donor activity.
  • Membership. Working with the Board and Membership Committee to grow and retain Anderson Arts Center memberships. Remembering that we are only as good as our collective membership.
  • Grants Management. Administering the grant request program of The Arts Center, using the framework established by the Board-approved Fundraising Plan. Actively generating methods for The Arts Center to leverage its resources to meet community needs. Initiating and/or partnering with other nonprofits to enhance the effectiveness of Arts Center funding. Providing oversight and research for new foundation funding sources, and for creating and writing new grants.
  • Fiscal Management. Preparing and operating within the parameters of the annual budget. Anticipating and planning for capital needs of The Arts Center. Working with the Executive Committee to assure proper cash management. Ensuring that The Arts Center complies with established policies and procedures, and with all governmental regulations and requirements. Working with auditors in the performance of annual audit, and effectively implementing recommendations.
  • Human Resources. Attracting and retaining quality Arts Center personnel, demonstrating a good working relationship with all personnel, and providing regular performance evaluation and counseling.
  • Personal Performance. Working effectively with the Board of Directors, volunteers, staff, other organizations and the community to achieve common goals. Demonstrating critical problem examination that leads to identification of key relationship components, and developing solutions. Continually improves the organization by exploring creative ideas or seeking further education on issues of importance. Demonstrating positive oral and written presentation of ideas within and outside the Arts Council. Understanding and following established policies. Exuding self-confidence, and demonstrating enthusiastic job performance with a minimum of direction. Trying new ideas, experimenting and taking reasonable risks. Forming sound evaluations of facts, opinions and options, while minimizing personal bias in decisions. Delivering consistent, reliable results, while instilling confidence in others.
  • Fiscal Year Goals. Hiring talented staff to replace vacancies, developing a Strategic Plan, expanding the Board by recruiting new members, and developing and executing successful fundraising for The Arts Center.
Knowledge and abilities needed for success include:
  • Vision and proven leadership abilities; A knowledge and appreciation of the arts and art education; Excellent organizational and communication skills; Honesty, enthusiasm, assertiveness and independence; A fine degree of diplomacy; Flexibility in task completion, and in interaction with professional and volunteer personnel; A solid commitment to the mission of the Anderson Arts Center.
  • Excellent communication skills; A collaborative leadership style; Demonstrated knowledge of administrative and fiscal management; Resource management and solid business protocol; Professionalism, the ability to manage multiple projects at once, Flexible working conditions; Juggling content and scheduling.
  • A proven track record in fundraising, event planning, donor development, membership development and retention.
  • An understanding of the characteristics and differences in communities, including rural, underserved, urban and suburban; Effects of geographic, cultural and economic barriers, and their effects on the role of the arts, arts education, economic development, community development and cultural tourism.
  • A knowledge of local, state and federal government affairs and the legislative process; diplomatic skills, and sensitivity to the current political environment (policies, practices and positions).
  • An ability to oversee the work of the staff, committees, contract workers, website management, graphic design, bookkeeping, database management, publications, information distribution, brand-based advertising, technology infrastructure and facility management.
  • An ability to manage and oversee Arts Center-related facilities, while maintaining strong tenant relationships.
  • Negotiation and executing all legal documents (annual renewal of Director & Officers Liability & Employment Insurance, Building, General Liability, Exhibit and Personal Property, Annual registration with the Secretary of State, Contracts for SC Arts Commission grants, Private Foundations and local government documents).
  • Working relationships with the SC Arts Commission, National Endowment for the Arts, various foundations and other granting agencies in securing funding initiatives; Grant and proposal preparation for foundations, local government and private businesses.
  • Maintaining a professional awareness and interest in the field; Attending exhibits, performances, festivals, professional seminars and workshops; Advising Board members of trends in the field and upcoming changes in the future; Facilitating long-range and strategic planning for the organization.
  • Have a proven working relationship with artists, a knowledge base of various media, presentation techniques, exhibition policies, artist contracts, installation procedures, lighting, gallery programming, public and past curating experience.
  • Planning and organizing various programs/services within the stated purposes and policies formulated by the Board of Directors and General Membership.
This position requires a bachelor’s degree, along with a minimum of seven years of experience with progressively increasing responsibility and oversight of an arts division or organization. Part of that experience must include active supervision and leading of others to reach departmental goals. The ability to work flexible hours is required. The position is full-time, with a base salary starting at $55K. Any additional incentives for the position will be discussed with candidates during the formal interview process. The Anderson Arts Center is accepting resumes and cover letters through January 15, 2018. Please submit via artscenteranderson@gmail.com. About the Anderson Arts Center Established in 1972, the Anderson Arts Center is a 501(c)3 that promotes and fosters the practice and appreciation of the arts in Anderson County and the surrounding areas in South Carolina. Once a primarily rural and textile area, Anderson continues to grow at a rapid pace with close to 30 schools, over 230 manufacturers, including 22 international companies, in the county. The Anderson Arts Center strives to meet the cultural needs of our diverse community through local and national exhibits, comprehensive arts programming for all ages, and community based public art projects. Our organization’s major partners include the Anderson Convention and Visitors Bureau, Anderson County, the City of Anderson, and the South Carolina Arts Commission. After its founding, the Arts Center found a permanent “home” in the Carnegie Library building, secured through the Pendleton District Historical and Recreational Commission. There, the Center thrived and increased its arts programming for 34 years, until growth necessitated acquiring and renovating the adjacent P&N Railway Warehouse. Since 2006, the 33,000 square foot Anderson Arts Warehouse has provided exhibition and classroom space in a handicapped accessible location. The Anderson Arts Warehouse significantly changed the cultural landscape of our area, and has opened the arts to thousands of people in Anderson County and the surrounding areas in South Carolina.

Call for public art proposals: City of Anderson Church Street Heritage Project

Anderson Call for Art Proposal deadline: January 30 The Anderson Arts Center and the City of Anderson are requesting proposals from qualified individuals to support the public art phase of the Church Street Heritage Project. An outdoor public art display will be located in the park commemorating the once thriving business community of black entrepreneurs on Church Street in downtown Anderson. This call is open to professional artists with experience working on public art projects and creating site-specific works. Selection for this project will be made by a panel including stakeholders, design professionals, a City representative, and members of the arts community. The panel will look at the merit of the artist’s work, past experience at completing projects on time and within budget, and appropriateness and maintenance requirements of the proposed concept. The panel will also consider artists who can demonstrate sensitivity to the site and surroundings. Artists must be able to commit and effectively work within the project timeline and collaborate with the Arts Center and administration. The total artist's fee for the project is $75,000. This amount must cover all associated costs including design, materials, fabrication, travel, insurance coverage, shipping and installation. Request for qualifications and proposals deadline is January 30, 2017 at 11:59 pm (Mountain Time Zone). Read the complete guidelines and find out to submit a proposal. Via: Anderson Arts Center

State Art Collection travels to Anderson

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The Anderson Arts Center will exhibit 24 works from State Art Collection: Contemporary Conversations Part I and II  Sept. 9 through Nov. 11, 2016.  The exhibition opens Friday, Sept. 9 at 7 p.m., during State of the Art: The Art and Soul of South Carolina, an event that also features a preview of works in the 2016 Anderson Arts Auction. Gallery hours are 9:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday.

[caption id="attachment_22341" align="alignright" width="225"]Elizabeth Keller, Discerning of Spirits Elizabeth Keller, Discerning of Spirits[/caption] Curated by Eleanor Heartney, author and contributing editor to Art in America and Artpress, Contemporary Conversations is composed of 118 works by 95 contemporary South Carolina artists. The exhibition is designed to suggest both the quality and diversity of the state’s cultural heritage and includes everything from hard-edge geometric abstraction to surrealist-tinged dreamscapes. Works are inspired by social issues, memory, local and national history, imagination, art of the past and aesthetic theory. Together they reflect the many voices and diverse concerns of South Carolina artists. The art in Contemporary Conversations is drawn from the State Art Collection, a comprehensive public collection of works by contemporary South Carolina artists. Established in 1967 as one of the first programs of the South Carolina Arts Commission, the State Art Collection is composed of 493 works in a variety of media and styles produced by 287 artists. Organizations and businesses interested in hosting an exhibition or displaying works from the State Art Collection should contact Harriett Green at (803) 734-8696. In addition toContemporary Conversations, two other traveling exhibitions are available: The African American Voice and Points of Departure: Vessel Forms from the State Art Collection. Images: State Art Collection: Contemporary Conversations About the State Art Collection The State Art Collection is considered the most comprehensive public collection of works by contemporary South Carolina artists. Established in 1967 as one of the first programs of the South Carolina Arts Commission, the State Art Collection has grown to include 493 works in a variety of media and styles by 287 South Carolina contemporary artists. Small exhibitions featuring work from the collection are organized on a regular basis for rural and isolated areas inside and outside of the state. Works from the State Art Collection are available for loan to art museums, state agencies, and public and private organizations for the purpose of public exhibition or public display. The collection is supported in part by the South Carolina Arts Foundation and First Citizens.

Anderson Arts Center and City of Anderson win $75,000 NEA grant for art in park

From The Anderson Independent Mail Article by Kirk Brown

Church Street Heritage ProjectThe National Endowment of the Arts has awarded a $75,000 grant for artwork at the Church Street Heritage Project, which is under construction in downtown Anderson. The grant awarded to the city of Anderson and Anderson Arts Center will help pay for commissioning and installing up to eight pieces of public art, as well as interactive music and oral history recordings. City officials are spending $460,000 on the initial phase of the Church Street Heritage Project. The first round of work on the "pocket park" behind the Mellow Mushroom on Main Street is slated for completion in June. The project is the culmination of a decade-long effort to commemorate the black business district that thrived on Church Street from around 1900 to 1980. "At its heart, the Church Street Heritage Project celebrates what is unique about Anderson. Church Street was a model of economic vitality in the 20th century that would be enviable to any modern city today," Mayor Terence Roberts said in a statement issued by the city. "We are thankful to the NEA for its validation of this project in the form of significant funding and we are proud to have as our partner the Anderson Arts Center." Councilwoman Beatrice Thompson, a longtime advocate for the Church Street Heritage Project, also was pleased to learn of the grant. "It is wonderful to see the effort to honor the cultural and historical significance of Church Street come to fruition. I have a great deal of personal satisfaction and pride as I watch a new generation of leaders work so diligently to see that the past is honored in this meaningful and relevant way," she said in the city's statement. "It will bring the Church Street story full circle as it spurs economic growth and opportunity anew." The city previously received a $60,000 grant from Duke Energy to place ornate story boxes in the park that will explain the area's history. The grant announced Monday also will help pay for the story boxes, as well as sculptures. The money for the Church Street Heritage project is among 64 grants totaling $4.3 million that the National Endowment of the Arts is awarding through its Our Town Program. The endowment received 240 applications related to the program this year. The park in Anderson is the only project in South Carolina that received funding this year, according to the endowment's website. "For six years, Our Town has made a difference for people and the places where they live, work, and play," said NEA Chairman Jane Chu. "Projects such as the one led by the city of Anderson help residents engage the arts to spark vitality in their communities."

Anderson Arts Center call for art – 41st Annual Juried Show and Partnership for Public Art: SculpTOUR

Beginning March 31, the Anderson Arts Center will accept entries for the 41st Annual Juried Show and Partnership for Public Art: SculpTOUR. Entries may be delivered between 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. until April 2. This year the event will offer more than $27,000 in prize money representing 50 awards. “Besides our regular juried show we’re really excited to partner with the City of Anderson in having the public art sculpture component again this year,” explained Executive Director Kimberly Spears. "We hope to have at least six pieces installed in downtown Anderson in time for Art on the Town. The public art outdoor sculptures will chosen by a selection committee and will remain on view for a year.” The show will open with a reception and awards ceremony beginning at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 16. The show and month-long celebration of the arts offer several opportunities for artists' works to be seen and purchased, beginning with the Arts Center Members Preview and the M•ART•ket and concluding with the Art on the Town Gallery Crawl April 29. The gallery crawl will include outlets throughout downtown Anderson where additional pieces not in the juried show will be presented. Art on the Town’s Friday night events will include a party at Wren Park with music and entertainment and a children’s event on Saturday. “Last year we had 270 artists and 500 submissions from South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina, and Missouri artists and, hopefully, we’ll surpass that number this year," said Spears. "We’re always astonished at not only the variety of submissions, but also the quality of the work. It’s a real highlight of the Arts Center year. As always, we want the greater Anderson community to see the show and share the excitement!” The juror for the annual show is Sandra Rupp, president and owner of Hampton III Gallery in Greenville. Rupp works with and/or represents more than 25 artists and organizes five to six gallery exhibitions a year. Hampton III Gallery focuses mostly on Southern artists, particularly those with a South Carolina connection. In addition to her gallery work, she assists museums in their programming and works with private and corporate collections. Vist the Anderson Arts Center's website or call 864.222.2787 for a show prospectus or additional information. Via: Anderson Arts Center  

Alternative students get chance to draw, make pottery at Anderson Arts Center

From the Anderson Independent Mail Article by Frances Parrish; photos by Ken Ruinard (Note: Jan. 15 is the deadline for the S.C. Arts Commission's next round of Arts Education Project Grants.)

Zyhakiah Mattress (pictured above) sat on a short stool, bent over a pottery wheel, shaping a small bowl in concentration. “It’s fun experiencing how to make stuff. It’s just really fun,” Zyhakiah said with a smile at the Anderson Arts Center on Thursday. “You get to experience something you’ve never done.” In just a few minutes eighth-grader had made her first bowl and started on her second, throwing the clay on the wheel, and pressing two fingers into the center of the flat lump of clay while she steadied one hand with the other. With money from South Carolina Arts Commission, the Anderson Arts Center was able to provide art classes for the Anderson County Alternative School students. An Anderson man, Phil Batson, wrote the Arts and Education (Project) grant as part of a master’s thesis, and Arts Center Director Kimberly Spears and program coordinator Chris Beggs were able to alter the grant to fit their needs. They received $15,000 from the grant, and the art center had to match the other $15,000. The money is used to pay for materials, such as clay, sketchbooks and other supplies, teachers, facilities and transportation. [caption id="attachment_23987" align="alignright" width="250"]Anderson Alternative School Chris Speares of the Anderson County Alternative School shapes a piece of pottery during a class at the Anderson Arts Center.[/caption] At the Alternative School, students in sixth through 12th grades only take the core classes such as math, science, social studies and English, but now students have the ability to go off campus for a couple of hours to take a class in sketching or pottery. “Even though these kids are at the Alternative School, they have a lot of talent,” said Alternative School Director Randolph Dillingham. “It was a no-brainer. Our kids have interest and have talent. This allows them to enhance their skills and learn a craft.” Across the hall from local artists Joshua Davis’s pottery class, posters about the elements of design hang on the walls in the sketching classroom. Before the students arrived Thursday morning, local artists Tracey Weiss and Kimberly Bowen hurriedly rearranged tables and chairs, while placing a sketchbook and a student’s portfolio on each desk. They set out all of the materials ahead of time, because they have a limited time to draw in the 90-minute class. For 10th-grader Chantal Groves, drawing helps her relax. “It takes your mind away from things,” Chantal said. Drawing is a passion for eighth-grader Devin Richardson. “I’ve been wanting to come here for a long time,” Devin said. He said he often gets in trouble for drawing in class, but now he can, and learn techniques to be a better artist. Each session is about six weeks long, and if the students choose to, they may continue for additional sessions, following educational art standards even though the classes aren’t for credit. “We want to build confidence and a sense of accomplishment in these students,” Beggs said. “We want to show them they have a skill or a talent.” The ultimate goal is for the students to submit art pieces to the Youth Art Show in March. Students in every school in Anderson County can participate, and for the first year, so can the Alternative School. Art classes will continue until the end of the school year, but Beggs plans to reapply for the grant in January to continue to expand the program for the future. If she gets enough students in the classes, she would love to expand the program to two days a week. Beggs said she hopes to add a third class, painting, in the near future and another wheel to the pottery class. “I want to see how far we can take it,” she said.

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